How many times a day should I feed my five month old cereal and Juice?

Question

Hi, my baby never seems satisfied even when he eats 1/2 Jar of first foods w/ 6 ozs of milk to wash it down. He always seems to want more?

So today I started a new menu, is this okay?


8:00 (Breakfast)
1/4 cup Cereal
4 oz Juice

10:00 (Mid-morning)
6 oz bottle of milk w/ tbsp. cereal inside

(Lunch) or when wakes up from nap
12:00
1/4 cup Cereal
4 oz Milk

2:00 (mid-evening)
6 oz bottle pf milk w/ tbs. cereal inside

4:00
1/4 cup Cereal
4 oz Juice

6:00
6 oz bottle of milk w/ tbs. cereal inside

By seven he's usually in bed asleep :o).

Help!

Answer 1

Juice is the number ONE cause of childhood obesity!!! Believe it or not. Our moms shoved juice down our throats and thats why our generation is so fat. All that sugar is totally unnecisarry...ask your childs pediatrician she will agree!!!!!!! I would cut out juice all together..babies DONT DONT DONT need it. (especially in a bottle..if you are going to give it to them..in a sippy cut ONLY) you can also cut down a bit on the cereal..a baby that young is just getting used to taste/texture/eating and doesnt need to depend on it for nutrition....they depend on formula and it really sounds like you are not giving your child enough of it! Jeez...only 22 oz your doctor will scream at you! your child needs most of its calories from fat..hence FORMULA or breastmilk! YOu are really depriving your child of nutrients and you are truely malnourishing your child (dont get upset..im not meaning to be a big meany. Its really an honest mistake and you didnt know better)

I have a pamphlet from WIC that i try to go by when feeding my twins. I will share a little of the info with you
By the end of the 5th month your baby should be taking 32-38 oz of formula a day
1/4-1/3 cup of rice cereal once or twice a day
You can probably start veggies now but that one is up to you..i shouldnt bother your baby who has been drinking juice for a while now!

Answer 2

I also feed my daughter three times a day. I give my daughter a jar or half a jar of baby food with her cereal. You can even mix it into her cereal which saves dirtying more dishes and makes the cereal taste good. Any of the first foods should be okay at this point my daughter had them at this age. An infant should have no more than 4 oz of juice a day. If you are not having any problems with cereal in the milk it might be ok but my doctor said that it is not safe because a thicker concentration being sucked through a bottle can cause choking. I personally would just increase how much cereal and baby food your child eats and not put any cereal in the bottles. Your child can tell you when he is full. If he isnt refusing it let him eat untill he does not want any more hell close his mouth and turn his head. Make sure that there is nothing else wrong either and that he is gaining enough weight.

Answer 3

I am an aunt 6 month old twins and help their parents out quite a bit. Here is their schedule:

Wake up ~7
2 oz cereal
Jar of fruit
4 oz bottle (their bottles are made to 6 oz, 2 ozs are used in the cereal, they get the remainer of the bottle)

~11
Jar Veggies
Jar Fruit
6 oz Bottle (they don't usually drink the whole bottle this time)

~3
6 oz Bottle

~7
Jar Veggies
2 oz Cereal
4 oz bottle

They are offered juice during the day, but no more than 4 ozs, once per day. Their pedi recommended starting juice at 6 months. They often don't drink the whole thing.

It looks to me like you are giving too much juice and cereal. Instead of the cereal in the bottle (which I never did), try giving him veggies. Once he's had all the veggies, introduce the fruits.

Answer 4

Cut the juice out completely, there is not need for a 5 month old to have juice at all. There is no nutrition in it at all for an infant. It's best to wait until the child is at least 12 months and then no more than 4oz a day, and only in a sippy cup. This is because the natural sugars from the juice collect at the silicon nipple and will rot the teeth out, even before the teeth pop out. Stop putting cereal in the bottle that is a huge "no-no". It's only in the cases of acid reflux that should be done, because for those babies the rbenefits outweigh the risks. Only do cereal by a spoon, and maybe start some vegetables and give that for dinner. You may want to start giving 8oz bottles of formula because that is where the fat is, and that will help your little one stay full.

Also in the future, the only thing a baby needs for the first 6 months is breastmilk/formula. BY now your baby is probably used to the solids and would be upset if you took them away, so it would hard to do so.

http://pediatrics.about.com/cs/nutrition/a/fruit_juice.htm

http://www.drgreene.com/21_861.html

Answer 5

I always started my babies on plain rice cereal once a day (usually in the morning). Rice cereal is least likely to cause allergic reactions. You could add apples or bananas if he refuses the cereal (some babies don't like the taste of rice cereal alone). Even though he's nursing constantly, you really don't need to feed him anything solid yet. He could just be going through a growth spurt. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Answer 6

Is he at all drinking 8 ounces...a full bottle? That might help. I give my son an 8 ounce bottle every 4 hours ( he is alittle over 4 months old) and add a spoon of cereal into it and he is fine. Just started intro to baby food. At his 12:00 lunch feeding he gets about 5-8 spoons of vegies and then his 8 oz bottle. He then eats another bottle at 4. Your child should not be eating every 2 hours.

Answer 7

There is nothing wrong with putting cereal in a baby's bottle, don't let them tell you that it is. My son has had cereal in him bottle since he has been 5 weeks old, and his doctor prescribed it because he has acid reflex and spits up alot. My son is 5 months old too. Just do not give your baby that much milk, try and replace it formula. Also you do not have to wait until the baby is 6 months old to give him baby food, if you look at the Gerber stage chart, stage 1 starts at 4 months. So you are fine, keep doing what you have been doing.

Answer 8

There is absolutely nothing wrong with giving your baby juice. By 6 months they start your baby on apple, pear, and white grape juices. Also my daughter's nutritionist said that whenever you give your baby juice, try to let her drink it out of a small cup or sippy cup so that she can start the transition from a bottle. That way, the baby will be weaned off of the bottle a little after the first birthday. It's fine to give your baby juice as long as you don't cut out the milk. Also, it is also fine to put cereal in your baby's bottle. The nutritionist also said that was fine because it helps with the spitting up. As long as you're feeding your baby the rice with the spoon, it's really fine. Your feeding schedule looks good to me. Your little one should have a happy tummy!


Also, don't let the people here convince you that you're doing something wrong. You're the mother, and only you know what's best for your child.

Answer 9

Just listen to Melissa- her answer is perfect. These other answers are telling you to feed too much, too early. Breastmilk (or since you've already chosen formula) ONLY is the best thing for your baby for at least six months. Don't push solids too early, it can lead to childhood and adult obesity, diabetes, and allergies. Anything you give to your baby instead of breastmilk or formula actually takes away from the balance of vitamins, nutrients, and fat that he still needs and replaces it with inferior food, especially when it's ones your child is not ready for. Slow waaaay down with the solids. For the first year of life, feeding your child solids is only to practice eating, not to really add any nutrition- you need to get that mainly from the breastmilk or formula. At one year, the AAP recommends that solids be made up of no more than 25% of their entire intake- you are already waaaaaay too close to that, and at only 5 months!! Your poor baby! And no juice is the best amount, especially right now. Your baby can eat fruit when he is old enough to pick up pieces and feed them to himself, most juice is basically a sugar filled junk food. And never, ever, ever put cereal into a bottle. Look into it- research will show you that these feeding guidelines are true, and that no matter what "other people" do with their kids, it's your job to look into doing what's right. Good luck~

http://www.babycenter.com/refcap/baby/babyfeeding/113.html

Answer 10

Juice at this age doesn't do more than rot teeth. Remember not to serve a citrus juice, they make stomach acid and upset tummies. Dark grape juice is a disaster until age 25. :) Seriously, juice is all sugar, no fiber. Try mixing a real fruit puree into his cereal in a few weeks, after he's had time to show that he's not sensitive to the cereal.

Remember to clean any teeth he has after every cereal feeding.